Star Trek: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Seven Of Nine
2. Ryan Vs Mulgrew
It is now well-known that Kate Mulgrew and Jeri Ryan did not get along during their first few years together on the show. Both have opened up about their experiences, with Ryan speaking about how unsettled, upset, and nauseous it made her, having to deal with the wall of dislike that faced her day by day, when filming with Mulgrew.
However.
While Mulgrew's treatment of Ryan was undoubtedly unfair and unprofessional, she was dealing with a complete turnaround of what the show was, in her opinion, supposed to be about. From the beginning, the shadow of Bujold hung over her. The executives from Paramount spent the first few months watching her act, unsure as they were now that Bujold had walked off. In defiance to this, but also to highlight the importance of a strong female lead, Mulgrew was adamant that she would not be their sex symbol to hang the marketing on. In several interviews given during the first year, Mulgrew championed the writing, stating clearly that Janeway was being written and portrayed as a captain first, and as a woman second.
Then, Seven of Nine appeared. This deeply frustrated Mulgrew, who felt that the character represented everything she had been railing against in the first three years. She admitted later that it was wrong to have focused this frustration on Jeri Ryan, with both actors long since seeming to have buried the hatchet.